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"The Message from Bethlehem 




By . 

William Jennings Bryan 

Messages for the Times . i2mo, boards, 
each.net 35c. 

Four eloquent and picturesque deliverances by one 
of the great masters of English speech. They are 
lucid, suggestive, practical, and present a real and 
accessible standard of both national and individual 
living. 

The Message from Bethlehem. 

A plea for the world-wide adoption of the spirit 
of the Angels’ song—“Good-will to Men.” The 
context and import of this great principle has 
never been more understandingly set forth. 

The Royal Art. 

A lucid exposition of Mr. Bryan’s views concern¬ 
ing the aims and ideals of righteous government. 

The Making of a Man. 

A faithful tracing of the main lines to be followed 
if the crown of manhood is to be attained. 

The Prince of Peace. 

Mr. Bryan’s famous lecture delivered ere now 
in the hearing of tens of thousands. In its present 
form it enters on an enlarged sphere of useful¬ 
ness. 

The Fruits of the Tree. 

“ Either for the reinvigoration of the faith of the 
religious man or for the dissipation of the doubts 
of the irreligious man, this little volume is a docu¬ 
ment of power.”— Continent. 
















The paperweights which Secretary Bryan has had made and presented to each of the thirty 
diplomats who signed with him treaties for investigation in all cases, are made of steel and 
nickel-plated. The steel is composed of melted swords ; this explains the inscription on the 
plowshares—“ They shall beat their swords into plowshares.” 










The Message from 
Bethlehem 


By 

WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN 



New York Chicago Toronto 

Fleming H. Revell Company 

London and Edinburgh 












Copyright, 1914, by 

FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 



New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 125 North Wabash Ave. 
Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street 



JAN 30 1915 


(Q) ci. a 3 9. 1 5 a 1 


The Message from 
Bethlehem 


s 

I S the peace movement growing ? 

Yes, “ On earth peace, and good 
will towards men ”—the message de¬ 
livered at Bethlehem—is audible to 
an increasing multitude at each re¬ 
turning Christmastide. To doubt it 
would be to bring an indictment 
against Christianity. 

Edwin Markham has, in his own 
inimitable way, given poetic expres¬ 
sion to a growing desire : 



4 The Message from Bethlehem 

What was the first prophetic word that rang 
When down the starry sky the angels sang, 
That night they came as envoys of the Birth— 
What word but peace, “ peace and good will 
on earth” ? 

And what was the last word the Master said 
That parting night when they broke brother- 
bread, 

That night He knew men would not let Him 
live— 

Oh, what but “ peace I leave ” and u peace I 
give ” 1 

And yet behold : near twice a thousand years 
And still the battle-wrath, the grief, the tears. 
Let mercy speed the hour when swords shall 
cease, 

And men cry back to God, “There shall be 
peace.” 

Civilization may be defined as the 
harmonious development of the hu¬ 
man race, physically, mentally and 
morally, and who will declare war to 
be a civilizing agency ? It does not 
develop the race physically; it does 
not improve the race intellectually ; 


The Message from Bethlehem 5 

it does not advance the race morally. 
War demands its largest toll of the 
strong and the virile, thus retarding, 
instead of accelerating, the progress 
of the race towards physical perfec¬ 
tion. It does not encourage intellec¬ 
tual progress ; on the contrary, it turns 
the mind away from the things which 
enlarge and expand, and contracts the 
sphere of its activities. It does not 
make the heart better; instead of 
doing so, it stirs the passions and en¬ 
thrones hatred where love should be 
supreme. It chills the gentler virtues, 
converts friends into enemies and leads 
men to enjoy the shedding of blood. 

War is not to be judged by the ap¬ 
pearance of soldiers on parade. They 


6 The Message from Bethlehem 

are very attractive as they march 
through the streets in new uniform, 
keeping step to inspiring music, but 
this is not war. Go, rather, to the 
battle-field where men are trying to 
take each other’s lives; see the up¬ 
turned faces of the dead and hear the 
groans of the wounded. Then visit 
the homes from which the bread¬ 
winner has been taken and consider 
the increased burden thrown upon 
the widowed mother—the protection 
and support withdrawn from the 
fatherless children; compute the 
awful cost of war, in tears, in treas¬ 
ure and in blood, and answer, as at 
the judgment seat, whether peaceful 
means for the settlement of inter- 


The Message from Bethlehem 7 

national disputes are not infinitely 
to be preferred. 

Some have regarded war as the 
fruitful source of many blessings, but 
an examination into the facts of his¬ 
tory will convince the candid inquirer 
that the race has been rowing up¬ 
stream and that it has been compelled 
to subtract the velocity of the war 
current from its speed ; it would have 
moved more rapidly but for the 
energy it has had to employ to coun¬ 
teract this current. 

Man is able to extract some good 
from almost every evil, but that is 
no reason why evil should be pre¬ 
ferred to good. The question is not 
whether man i's’ strong enough to re- 


8 The Message from Bethlehem 

sist influences which, like war, tend 
to drag him down, but rather whether 
peace has not greater victories. 

To face death without flinching is 
glorious, if the sacrifice is made for a 
righteous cause; we cannot withhold 
our admiration from those who yield 
up the last full measure of their lives 
in defense of their country, their kind, 
or truth, and yet we can and should 
deplore the conditions which compel 
such sacrifice, and pray for the com¬ 
ing of the day when man’s efforts 
will be wholly devoted to helpful 
service rather than to the work of 
destruction. 

If war is necessary to man’s ad¬ 
vancement, it logically follows that 


The Message from Bethlehem 9 

without war man would degenerate. 
How could one worship God if He 
had so made us that we must shed 
blood occasionally in order to keep 
ourselves keyed up to the proper 
pitch ? If war is beneficial, then it is 
a mockery to teach “ Thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart 
and thy neighbour as thyself.” 

But war is not necessary to stimu¬ 
late men to great efforts. As much 
inspiration can be drawn from a noble 
life as from an heroic death. Every 
talent that man possesses can find its 
full employment in lifting the level 
on which all stand—there is glory in 
doing good. In a speech which I 
heard delivered a few months ago at 


io The Message from Bethlehem 

a peace meeting an idea was advanced 
which has impressed me more and 
more as I have revolved it in my 
mind, namely, that the doubling of 
the products of the soil by more in¬ 
telligent methods of cultivation is 
equivalent to adding to our nation an 
area equal to that which we now own 
—and that it would be even more 
valuable, because the addition woujd 
belong to those now here, whereas 
conquered land would still belong to 
those who were conquered with it. 

The tremendous advance in agri¬ 
cultural methods suggests possibili¬ 
ties in other directions, for there is 
no limit to the avenues of usefulness 
which open out before those who are 


The Message from Bethlehem 11 

willing to dedicate themselves to the 
improvement of conditions. Even 
the supreme sacrifice for which the 
battle-field has called in the past may 
have its parallel in those who give 
their lives in the investigation of 
remedies and in the testing of new 
inventions. Fame will have new 
camping grounds and patriotic hearts 
aflame with love will respond to the 
bugle's thrilling call to intellectual 
and moral battle-fields. 

If war were a thing to be desired, 
it would be planned for, and resort to 
it would be systematized—if good, 
what folly to leave it to chance ! A 
good way to prove the falsity of a bad 
proposition is to suppose it true and 


12 The Message from Bethlehem 

then follow it until its absurdity is 
exposed. 

Apply this test to war; let those 
who believe it to be a means of de¬ 
velopment put their theory to the 
test. Let them teach it in the 
schools; let them advise men not 
merely to be prepared for it in case 
it should come, but to concert to¬ 
gether to bring it at proper intervals, 
that the world may not be denied its 
wholesome (?) influence! The fact 
that war is apologized for instead of 
praised, that it is deprecated instead 
of extolled—that we celebrate the 
anniversaries of treaties, not calls to 
arms—these are proof positive that 
war is a weed to be exterminated, not 


The Message from Bethlehem 13 

a fruit-producing plant to be prop¬ 
agated. 

The peace sentiment increases ; the 
future belongs to it. For nineteen 
centuries there has been an expand¬ 
ing hope of the fulfillment of the 
prophecy spoken by Isaiah, that 
swords shall be turned into plow¬ 
shares and spears into pruning-hooks. 
And at no time has it moved forward 
more steadily and rapidly than in our 
day. Every great force in society is 
contributing to the certainty of its 
final triumph. Is the percentage of 
illite r decreasing? The mind, 
f he fetters of ignorance, 

.i the substitution of reason 
*ce. It scorns to sink to the 


14 The Message from Bethlehem 

level of a blow when it can use argu¬ 
ment more effectually. The more 
complete information which comes 
with higher education makes more 
certain a clear understanding of the 
forces that lie back of war. Certain 
interests profit by war, and as soon 
as this fact becomes generally known 
the support which these persons give 
to war is at once converted into an 
argument against it. 

Self-interest, blood-stained and re¬ 
volting, has too often hidden behind 
the mask of patriotism. Army con¬ 
tractors have contributed a portion 
of their profits to manufacture a 
spurious public opinion. The manu¬ 
facturers of armour-plate have not 


The Message from Bethlehem 15 

hesitated to capitalize love of country 
and to fan passion into a consuming 
flame. They have unblushingly stim¬ 
ulated in the hearts of their country¬ 
men hatred of the foreigner; they 
have even secretly infused into the 
breast of the foreigner animosity 
towards their own countrymen. And 
the newspaper, so indispensable to 
popular government, and so powerful 
for good when rightly employed,— 
even the newspaper has sometimes 
sold its birthright for a mess of pottage 
and weighed the profits derived from 
sensational head-lines against the sat¬ 
isfaction which comes from a con¬ 
sciousness of service rendered. 

The intelligent man considers the 


16 The Message from Bethlehem 

costliness of war. Bankruptcy is the 
inevitable end when nations enter 
into a rivalry to see which can be 
most completely prepared for war 
that should never come. If might 
makes right, then the old nations 
must continue indefinitely the strug¬ 
gle to keep their war footing stronger 
than that of the new nations, while 
the new nations, upon this theory, 
have no chance for supremacy until 
they have outstripped the old ones in 
military and naval strength. 

War is futile as an arbiter of dis¬ 
putes. How can war decide a moral 
issue—and what other issue is there 
that is worth considering ? The 
right, plus an army, may establish a 


The Message from Bethlehem 17 

principle that is sound, but, if sound, 
it will in time be established without 
war. No army, however numerous— 
no navy, however large—can establish 
a principle that is unsound—these 
can only postpone a final settlement. 
“ Thought is stronger than artillery 
parks/ 7 says Carlyle in the closing 
chapters of his History of the French 
Revolution, “ and at last moulds the 
world like soft clay.” 

Each nation when at the zenith of 
its power has proclaimed its own im¬ 
mortality, but the path of history is 
strewn with the wrecks of boast¬ 
ing, swaggering, bullying empires— 
whether their hope rested on spear or 
javelin or sword, it has been shat- 


18 The Message from Bethlehem 

tered. The cannon and the dread- 
naught are as powerless as these to 
stay the onward march of the simplest 
truth. “ You may build your capitols 
till they reach the sky, but if they rest 
upon injustice the pulse of a woman 
will beat them down ”—a strong say¬ 
ing but who will question its truth ? 
The forces that are marshalled upon 
a battle-field are visible forces—they 
cannot stand before the moral forces. 
The Lord was not in the wind, nor in 
the earthquake, nor yet in the fire, 
but in the still small voice. 

The increase in the spirit of broth¬ 
erhood is one of the clearest manifes¬ 
tations of the present day. “ Am I 
my brother's keeper ? ” can no longer 


The Message from Bethlehem 19 

be asked to divert suspicion or to re¬ 
buke inquiry ; it is the soul-stirring 
question of the hour. The aroused 
conscience of the world is being 
turned upon the indirect forms of 
wrong-doing, and it is being discovered 
that direct wrong-doing is insignificant 
in comparison with the wrong-doing 
by indirect methods. The Command¬ 
ments “ Thou shalt not steal ” and 
“ Thou shalt not kill ” are being in¬ 
terpreted in the light of the present 
day, and it will not much longer be 
possible to conceal the fact that war 
is generally an attempt to amend both 
so as to limit their operation to theft 
and murder “ on a small scale.” 

The essence of stealing lies in the 


20 The Message from Bethlehem 

appropriating of that which belongs 
to some one else without giving him 
an equivalent compensation in return. 
Killing is the taking of human life 
without legitimate excuse, and the 
excuses that are regarded as legiti¬ 
mate are constantly decreasing in 
number. There is a well-defined and 
strongly supported movement against 
legal executions, and Tolstoi has 
bluntly argued that killing, even in 
self-defense, costs more lives than it 
saves. With a growing regard for the 
sacredness of life it is natural that 
wholesale slaughter should become 
more and more repugnant to the con¬ 
science of organized society, for war 
has, as a rule, been resorted to for the 


The Message from Bethlehem 21 

acquiring of territory. As theft and 
murder frequently are traceable to 
covetousness, we may expect that the 
violation of these two Command¬ 
ments by wholesale, as well as by re¬ 
tail, will decrease in proportion as 
man comes to realize his kinship to 
his brother and the indissoluble ties 
that bind him to his fellow men. 

We have yet to deal with the de¬ 
lusion, often sincere, that duty to the 
world sometimes requires national 
land grabbing and the subjugation of 
“ inferior people.” Analysis will gen¬ 
erally show a confusion of thought 
among those who take this position. 
The separation of the numerous rea¬ 
sons that are usually mixed together 


22 The Message from Bethlehem 

will show the weakness of each. 
Those who a few years ago defended 
imperialism generally employed three 
arguments which, stripped of un¬ 
necessary verbiage, were about as fol¬ 
lows : 

( 1 ) “ We do not want the Philip¬ 
pines and ought not to have taken 
them, but now that we have taken 
them there is no way of getting rid 
of them; ” (2) “ and then, too, it 
seems providential; ” ( 3 ) “ and, be¬ 
sides, there is money in it.” There is 
sometimes a mysterious connection 
between the providential argument 
and the monetary one; men seldom 
see the hand of Providence in a pro¬ 
posed national policy unless they be- 


The Message from Bethlehem 23 

lieve there is a dollar in the hand. 
It is, unfortunately, much easier to 
convince one that it is his religious 
duty to do a profitable thing than an 
unprofitable thing, especially if the 
thing is done upon a scale large 
enough to obscure its moral character. 
There are, however, no moral princi¬ 
ples that apply to individuals that do 
not apply equally to nations. 

The quality of morality is not de¬ 
termined by the number engaged in 
the act—the number only affects the 
probability of escaping the penalty; 
and even here it is a fatal mistake 
to consider only those punishments 
which are immediate. No moral code 
can be built upon any theory that 


24 The Message from Bethlehem 

overlooks the effect of wrong-doing 
upon the character of the wrong-doer. 
When we advise our children not to 
steal, we do it primarily for their 
good and not for the good of those 
from whom they might otherwise 
steal. No real or permanent progress 
is possible in ethics until we under¬ 
stand that it is better for one to suffer 
wrong than to do wrong; and this 
applies to nations as well as to indi¬ 
viduals. 

As the individual cannot look into 
the future and measure the conse¬ 
quences of a single act, whether that 
act be good or bad, so a nation is un¬ 
able to calculate the permanent influ¬ 
ence which an act of government may 


The Message from Bethlehem 25 

exert; time and time again nations 
have suffered on an enormous scale 
for wrongs done which, at the time, 
seemed insignificant. 

It is not only impossible to weigh 
commerce in the balance against 
blood, but it is unjust to the last 
degree to weigh the commerce which 
one person secures against the blood 
which another person sheds to secure 
it. Even if the profits of war accrued 
to those who make the sacrifice, the 
recompense would be inadequate; but 
who will justify a system where many 
sow their lives that others may reap a 
golden harvest ? 

Few will now attempt to justify 
wars of conquest and subjugation for 


26 The Message from Bethlehem 

the propagation of religion—it seems 
hideous when it is presented as a 
naked proposition without rhetorical 
adornment. It is not only revolting 
but it is in conflict with the teachings 
of our religion. When Christ was 
urged by His disciples to call down 
fire upon those who rejected Him, 
He uttered a rebuke that has been too 
little heeded by His followers : “ Ye 
know not what manner of spirit ye 
are of. For the Son of Man is not 
come to destroy men’s lives, but to 
save them.” Example, not force, is 
the formula that has been given us 
for the spread of all that is good. 
“ Let your light so shine before men 
that they see your good works and 


The Message from Bethlehem 27 

glorify your Father which is in 
heaven.’’ 

It is a simple plan and ought to be 
easily followed, and yet it seems so 
slow to convert the world by simply 
doing right. It is so human to want 
to compel people to do things instead 
of showing them how. The employ¬ 
ment of force also has a tendency to 
inflame one’s self-importance and it 
seems to require so much less sacri¬ 
fice. To overcome evil with good is 
to move in harmony with the divine 
plan ; it requires a regeneration of the 
heart to do this, but individual regen¬ 
eration lies at the basis of social im¬ 
provement and society is improving. 

If the individual must reform his 


28 The Message from Bethlehem 

fellows by example, so must the na¬ 
tion. It is as impossible for a nation 
as for an individual to promote good 
by the doing of evil. Our nation is 
fortunately situated to be the leader 
of the peace movement. It has every 
incentive that any other nation has, 
and is free from the dangers which 
many other nations fear. No people 
have stronger faith than ours in the 
doctrine that righteousness exalteth a 
nation, and what nation can more 
safely put God’s truth to the test ? 

We have had within the last few 
months a splendid illustration of the 
milder means that may be employed 
for the adjustment of such interna¬ 
tional controversies as were formerly 


The Message from Bethlehem 29 

settled by force. Our government 
found it necessary to occupy Vera 
Cruz, not for the purpose of conquest 
but as a means of protecting American 
citizens. This gave to the three lead¬ 
ing republics of South America an 
opportunity to propose mediation 
through their representatives at 
Washington—a proposition heartily 
approved by all Latin America. This 
government promptly accepted the 
offer, and Ambassador da Gama, of 
Brazil, Minister Naon, of Argentina, 
and Minister Suarez, of Chile (both 
now Ambassadors), with admirable 
spirit and consummate ability, 
smoothed out the difficulties and 
brought about an agreement which 


30 The Message from Bethlehem 

resulted in the retirement of General 
Huerta from Mexico. The moral 
influence of this victory for peace¬ 
ful methods can hardly be over-esti¬ 
mated ; it makes a new record in 
diplomacy ; it marks an advance in 
world politics and commits the entire 
Western Hemisphere to the policy of 
mediation. On this side of the At¬ 
lantic it will be harder than ever be¬ 
fore to inaugurate a war and easier 
to promote peace. Instead of using 
the ultimatum, we are adopting the 
motto : Nothing is final between 
friends. 

The continent-wide war in Europe 
only serves to bring into brighter 
light the superiority of the neigh- 


The Message from Bethlehem 31 

hourly way of “ reasoning together.'' 
War begets war, each conflict sowing 
the seeds of another war and verify¬ 
ing the Scriptural prophecy : “ All 
they that take the sword shall perish 
with the sword." The spirit, on the 
other hand, which leads nations to do 
justice to each other and to seek con¬ 
ciliation when misunderstandings oc¬ 
cur, compels confidence and good will. 

Our government has given still 
further proof of its interest in inter¬ 
national peace. In April, 1913 , with 
the approval of the President, I laid 
before the nations represented at 
Washington a plan which provides 
for investigation before the taking up 
of arms in any case of international 


32 The Message from Bethlehem 

dispute. This government expressed 
a willingness to treat with each 
nation separately, without regard 
to its size or strength, the same 


terms being offered to all. Thirty- 
four nations have endorsed the prin- 


ciples embodied 
thirty 

in 

the plan, and 

1. 

Salvador, - - - 

- 

August 7, 1913 

2 . 

Guatemala, - - 

- 

September 20, 1913 

3 . 

Panama, - - - 

- 

September 20,1913 

4. 

Honduras, - - 

- 

November 3, 1913 

5. 

Nicaragua, - - 

- 

December 17, 1913 

6. 

Netherlands, - - 

- 

December 18, 1913 

7. 

Bolivia, - - * 

- 

January 22, 1914 

8. Portugal, - - - 

- 

February 4, 1914 

9. 

Persia, - * - - 


February 4, 1914 

10. 

Denmark, - - 

- 

February 5, 1914 

11. 

Switzerland, • - 

- 

February 13, 1914 

12. 

Costa Rica, - - 

- 

February 13, 1914 

13. 

Dominican Republic, 

February 17, 1914 

14. 

Venezuela, - - 

- 

March 21, 1914 

15. 

Italy, 


May 5, 1914 




The Message from Bethlehem 33 


16. Norway, - - - - 

17. Peru, - - - - 

18. Uruguay, - - - - 

19. Brazil,. 

20. Argentina, - - - 

21. Chile,. 

22. Paraguay, - - - 

23. France, - - - - 

24. Great Britain, - - 

25. Spain,. 

26. China,. 

27. Russia, - - - - 

28. Equador, - - - - 

29. Greece, - - - - 

30. Sweden, * - * - 


June 24, 1914 
July 14, 1914 
July 20, 1914 
July 24, 1914 
July 24, 1914 
July 24, 1914 
August 29, 1914 
September 15,1914 
September 15, 1914 
September 15,1914 
September 15, 1914 
October 1, 1914 
October 13, 1914 
October 13, 1914 
October 13, 1914 


in the order named, have entered into 
treaties with this end in view. These 


governments exercise authority over 
nearly twelve hundred millions,— 
with our population, fully three- 
fourths of the inhabitants of the 


globe. 

The treaty with The Netherlands, 





34 The Message from Bethlehem 

which is the form followed by most 
of the countries, reads as follows : 

“The President of the United States of 
America and Her Majesty the Queen of The 
Netherlands, being desirous to strengthen the 
bonds of amity that bind them together and 
also to advance the cause of general peace, 
have resolved to enter into a treaty for that 
purpose, and to that end have appointed as 
their plenipotentiaries: 

“The President of the United States, the 
Honorable William Jennings Bryan, Secre¬ 
tary of State; and 

“ Her Majesty the Queen of The Nether¬ 
lands, Chevalier W. L. F. C. van Bappard, 
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni¬ 
potentiary of The Netherlands to the United 
States; 

“ Who, after having communicated to each 
other their respective full powers, found to 
be in proper form, having agreed upon and 
concluded the following articles : 

“ Article I 

‘ 4 The High Contracting Parties agree that 
all disputes between them, of every nature 


The Message from Bethlehem 35 

whatsoever, to the settlement of which pre¬ 
vious arbitration treaties or agreements do not 
apply in their terms or are not applied in 
fact, shall, when diplomatic methods of ad¬ 
justment have failed, be referred for investi¬ 
gation and report to a permanent Interna¬ 
tional Commission, to be constituted in the 
manner prescribed in the next succeeding 
article ; and they agree not to declare war or 
begin hostilities during such investigation 
and before the report is submitted. 

“ Article II 

“The International Commission shall be 
composed of five members, to be appointed 
as follows : One member shall be chosen from 
each country, by the Government thereof; 
one member shall be chosen by each Govern¬ 
ment from some third country; the fifth 
member shall be chosen by common agree¬ 
ment between the two Governments, it being 
understood that he shall not be a citizen of 
either country. The expenses of the Com¬ 
mission shall be paid by the two Govern¬ 
ments in equal proportion. 

“The International Commission shall be 
appointed within six months after the ex- 


36 The Message from Bethlehem 

change of the ratifications of this treaty j and 
vacancies shall be filled according to the 
manner of the original appointment. 

“ Article III 

“In case the High Contracting Parties 
shall have failed to adjust a dispute by dip¬ 
lomatic methods, they shall at once refer it 
to the International Commission for investi¬ 
gation and report. The International Com¬ 
mission may, however, spontaneously offer 
its services to that effect, and in such case it 
shall notify both Governments and request 
their cooperation in the investigation. 

“The High Contracting Parties agree to 
furnish the Permanent International Com¬ 
mission with all the means and facilities re¬ 
quired for its investigation and report. 

“The report of the International Com¬ 
mission shall be completed within one year 
after the date on which it shall declare its 
investigation to have begun, unless the High 
Contracting Parties shall limit or extend the 
time by mutual agreement. The report shall 
be prepared in triplicate ; one copy shall be 
presented to each Government, and the third 
retained by the Commission for its files. 


The Message from Bethlehem 37 

“The High Contracting Parties reserve 
the right to act independently on the subject- 
matter of the dispute after the report of the 
Commission shall have been submitted. 

“ Article IY 

“The present treaty shall be ratified by 
the President of the United States of Amer¬ 
ica, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate thereof; and by Her Majesty the 
Queen of The Netherlands ; and the ratifica¬ 
tions shall be exchanged as soon as possible. 
It shall take effect immediately after the 
exchange of ratifications, and shall continue 
in force for a period of five years ; and it 
shall thereafter remain in force until twelve 
months after one of the High Contracting 
Parties have given notice to the other of an 
intention to terminate it. 

“ In witness whereof, the respective pleni¬ 
potentiaries have signed the present treaty 
and have affixed thereunto their seals. 

“Done in Washington on the eighteenth 
day of December, in the year of our Lord 
nineteen hundred and thirteen.’’ 

There are five fundamental propo¬ 
sitions which run through all the 


38 The Message from Bethlehem 

treaties, namely, ( 1 ) that investigation 
shall be resorted to in all cases not 
otherwise provided for; (2) the Com¬ 
mission is permanent and ready to be 
invoked at any time ; (3) the investi¬ 
gation to be concluded within one 
year unless the time is changed by 
mutual consent; (4) the parties agree 
not to declare war or begin hostilities 
until the investigation has been 
made ; but (5) they reserve the right 
to act independently after the investi¬ 
gation is completed. 

It is believed that these treaties 
will go far towards making war a 
remote possibility, for it will be diffi¬ 
cult for two nations to engage in war 
after a year’s deliberation. Diplo- 


The Message from Bethlehem 39 

macy is the art of keeping cool, and 
the period provided for investigation 
not only permits the subsidence of 
passion and the restoration of rea¬ 
son, but it gives time for the opera¬ 
tion of that public opinion, which 
more and more condemns the use of 
force and exalts the processes of rea¬ 
son. Time also enables impartial 
judges to separate questions of fact 
from questions of honour—a most im¬ 
portant task, since the line between 
the two is quite sure to be obscured 
when anger and prejudice are aroused. 

If this plan realizes the hopes of 
those who support it and is employed 
between other nations, a tremendous 
impulse will have been given to the 


40 The Message from Bethlehem 

movement that has for its end the 
establishment of universal peace. 

I am convinced that the American 
people are heartily in accord with the 
effort to justify our nation’s claim to 
primacy in all that tends to substitute 
reason for force in the settlement of 
international disputes. If I were 
asked to picture our nation’s future, 
I would not change the language 
which I employed fourteen years ago 
in describing the ideal republic : 

“ I can conceive of a national des¬ 
tiny surpassing the glories of the 
present and the past—a destiny which 
meets the responsibilities of to-day 
and measures up to the possibilities 
of the future. Behold a republic, 


The Message from Bethlehem 41 

resting securely upon the foundation 
stones quarried by revolutionary pa¬ 
triots from the mountain of eternal 
truth—a republic applying in prac¬ 
tice and proclaiming to the world the 
self-evident propositions that all men 
are created equal; that they are en¬ 
dowed by their Creator with inalien¬ 
able rights; that governments are 
instituted among men to secure these 
rights, and that governments derive 
their just powers from the consent of 
the governed. Behold a republic in 
which civil and religious liberty stim¬ 
ulate all to earnest endeavour and in 
which the law restrains every hand 
uplifted for a neighbour's injury—a 
republic in which every citizen is a 


42 The Message from Bethlehem 

sovereign, but in which no one cares 
or dares to wear a crown. 

“ Behold a republic standing erect 
while empires all around are bowed 
beneath the weight of their own ar¬ 
maments—a republic whose flag is 
loved while other flags are only 
feared. Behold a republic increasing 
in population, in wealth, in strength 
and in influence, solving the prob¬ 
lems of civilization and hastening the 
coming of a universal brotherhood—a 
republic which shakes thrones and 
dissolves aristocracies by its silent 
example and gives light and inspira¬ 
tion to those who sit in darkness. 
Behold a republic gradually but 
surely becoming the supreme moral 


The Message from Bethlehem 43 

factor in the world’s progress and the 
accepted arbiter of the world’s dis¬ 
putes—a republic whose history, like 
the path of the just, * is as the shining 
light that shineth more and more 
unto the perfect day.’” 


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